The Outernet is a song you don’t hear much about when discussions of
the “Overcast” album arise. I actually originally thought it a bit avant garde
as one of the handful of selections on the “Overcast” EP vinyl. It seemed that
“Clay” or “Ode To The Modern Man” were more likely options in terms of overall
better songs. However, the content alone makes the case for its inclusion. It
tackles the endlessly ongoing inner-struggle that Hip Hop faces with
practitioners constantly blurring the line between the competitive nature of
Hip Hop VS the unhealthy attempts at tearing down others who are contributing
something viable to the growth of the scene…or at the very least, people
wasting their energy on worrying about someone else’s actions and impact,
rather than maximizing their own.

My interpretation of the “Outernet” is two-fold. First, I assume
Slug is making a direct, but loose reference to the Internet, which was really
starting to become a household word around this time and more and more people
were starting to explore this strange new destination called the World Wide
Web. Yet, secondly, he was altering the meaning to refer to the casting of a
net over the living and breathing local scene, one that would set up boundaries
that many were likely to become trapped behind. I suppose that captures the
irony of the term internet in itself, as something with the sole purpose of
reaching out beyond, not just your neighborhood, but your country and having no
limits, the term Outernet seems more appropriate.

Per his specialty, ANT appropriately sets the tone with some eerie
high pitch frequencies, somber undertones, and a sneakily treading beep noise.
Slug comes in spewing the sort of battle rhyme bravado that was one of his
trademarks at the time, “For starters, I contemplated on where to split
ya…/Marked the spot with a dotted line and ripped ya/Used careful procedure/If
you listen closely you can hear the ghostly moans of foes bleeding thru the
speakers.” Say What??!! But, that constitutes just a few short bars, acting as
a warm-up, building to his true focus, “Used to be on mission to destroy an
MC’s existence/Now I’m trying to build, so we can make this s**t
efficient/Strength is in the mind and strength is in the numbers/Too much
length in your slumber so we linked the bees and stung ya/I brung ya three
times as much as your f***in’ idols brought to you/But sense you know me
locally, you dismiss me as an obstacle/F**k it, Rhymesayers already got the
Twin Cities locked/Support’s overwhelming, ain’t no need for you to give me props/It’s
time to reach out, grab the nation and the earth/Let’s see where your heart’s
at, lets put the Outernet to work… (2Xs)” Clearly the braggadocio isn’t an
abandoned tactic, but he reinforces its strength with an end goal that is
grander than merely crushing the egos of would be competition…yet, still
manages to do that in the process as well.

The next vocal section showcases another of Slug’s early unique
writing methods and it’s moments such as these that best foretell his eventual
mastery of conceptual songwriting that would continue to develop through out
his career. He was inventive in creating compact mini-concepts within his
verses, which allowed him to experiment with conversational tones, poetic
inclinations, and creative use of space, “He said what? …he’s telling all of
his boys that I can’t rhyme/then I guess the s**t’s a success if I’m even on
his mind/He’s doing what?? Recording a project? Good he should be/I’m not
impressed. It’s obvious y’all never understood me/I dwell in a land of 10,000 Hip
Hop fans and every fan thinks he’s an MC/Heads are heavy…but they’re empty/I
dwell in a land of 20,000 MCs/But only half of them are head influenced/Hence,
confusion stems/Dem no need to worry about what the next man’s doing/That’s
what keeps you from perceiving what I’m pursuing/Here’s a clue-in, kill your
demo, I’m trying to make history/On a bus full of empty seats, now who wants to
sit with me/In case you’re unaware, we’ve been doing this forever/And ain’t a
damn thing changed, financial status nor the weather/However, lack of cash
reinforces passion/F**k the rapping man, if I was wack, I’d promote the
happenings/The difference between the average head and an MC is effort/Pick a
side, either side, let’s begin to network (2Xs)…”

After spending the first two verses giving a critical analysis of
the scene and the critiques that come from being a part of it, he spends the
final verse being self-analytical, using those same writing tactics employed in
the last verse, first as a rhyme writer and secondly in how he proposes to help
build the scene, “As an MC, I run rhymes to distribute the fun times/As a
lyricist, I promise to heat up your brain like sunshine/As and MC, my goal is
to make the whole show dope/As a lyricist, I wanna spit that s**t that you can
quote/As an MC, I provoke my producer to stoke your spirits/So as a lyricists,
I can’t be choking on my lyrics/As an MC, I know the key is originality/And as
a lyricist, I command other MCs to respect me/That’s it, respect, that’s all/In
fact, the same respect I offer to you and your crew after y’all rip a set/I’m
just a man, but I role with others and/we got this plan to let the voice expand
across this tortured land/Education starts at home, 612, from there we roam
thru headphones/ coming soon to your warzone/The aftermath’ll have to plant
some gems into your passive ass/Amped to cut trees and branches, so ya’ll will
have a path/The more you feed it, the more it needs to consume/If you’re coming
thru the region, hit me up, we’ll rock a room/Let’s network, let’s work, let’s all
get work/So we can build a overall networth...” Ah, the fine art of merged
humbleness and ego, both essential components, or at the very least, expected
characteristics, of a charismatic MC.

In those last two verses, there are so many lines and writing
techniques that are worthy of specific highlighting. Also, a fair share of his comments
that ring with, what I imagine is, the painful sting of truth to some,
specifically those in local scenes the world-over who allowed ego to collide
with judgment, to paraphrase another Slug quote. As impressive as the writing
is on “Outernet”, I must admit that the noting of it eluded me upon initial
listens. Truthfully, I never deciphered the true potency of it until today
while writing this and I wasn’t really expecting to discover that. I was merely
seeking to write about what I thought might be an unexpected song from
Overcast. However, while there is no denying the writing showcased on “The
Outernet”, I think part of what lends to its greatness now is how prophetic it
has become in so many ways...